The Irish standard., 1887-08-13
WORKSHOP AND STUDY.

IT is quite commonly known that gOld
Wy IL fus. only at high temperature, but
an authority On jeweiry states that the
addition of two per cent. OF silica Will rem
der it 1usibie at Il very low degree OF Eeat.
A NEW scientific novelty is a lens that is
fat on both .si les 1t is the pro uct Of a
manufacturers Of lenses at jena, Germany.
The lens consists OF a single disk Of vary
ing density the refractory power of which
decreases on an inward scale.
THOSE VINO know say that moist hand
can be passed through molten iron With
out burning. finn Of steam being evolved
that prevents contact with the metal. In
like manner gun~cotton can be burned on
the hand and no heat felt, the moisture
absorbing the heat as fast as it ls evolvel.
A PHILADELPHIA manufacturer is max
ing copper-plated sheet steel that is said
TO be superior to solid copper for many
purposes. The sheet is made of decarbon-
lied steel and is electroplated with cop
per and timed on one side. 1t is thought
this new product will suggest additional
uses fer tn, metal.
REPORTS from Honduras OH the products
OF the country inform US that there are
large fields Of pita or "silk grass" the
fiber Of which has been found to be almost
equal to silk itself tor manu- sacturing pur-
poses. It is thought that, with suitable
machinery. this product might form an
important element OF industry.
THERE is much variation in daITies in the
feeding of COWS, yet nearly all city dairies
use in part the products OF distilleres as
cow feed. While matted grain may be
beneticially used in part, it must be said
of disti lery swill, that it is destructive Of
the health AMI condition Of CATTLE and in
a majority Of cases productive Of q tuberc-
ulous disease of the lungs. and renders the
milk poor and worthless
REPORT says that in Germany potash is
made from an acid pro uced by the cou.-
bustion Of wood While burning into char
coal By means of wide tubes Of plate
iron or copper, the acid and OIL which
would otherwise be dissirated in the air,
are collected; the wateiy acid part Being
then separated from the other, is evapo-
rated to dryness, and the residuum by CAL
cination affords an ASH extremely rlcil in
s.lkali.
THE manufacture Of solid carbonic acid
yyas has become an established industry in
E 'rlin. The gas is generated by the ac.
ton of acid on marble, is then subjected
10 enormous pressure at low temperature
whereby it is so]idltied, and is tlen pressed
into molds. A cylinder Of this solidif 'd
gas one and QUE half inches in diamater
ami two inches long will last for upwards
Of five hours before disappearing once
more as a gas.
FROM an accounJin the jewelers. Journal,
it is learned that an alloy faithfully re-
sem bling gold can be made with sixteen
parts of copper, enc part zinc, and seven
parts pa'inunl. The copper and platinum
are covered first with boroS and then with
powdered charcoal and mold, then the
zinc is added. ar.il the alloy thus produced
exceedingly malleable, and eau be drawn
out into the finest wire, and never tar
nlshes
A NEW process OF distilling turpentine
recorded in a journal Of science, is being
practice,i in the South. The pine wood is
placed iii iron r9torus charged with super
heated steam and fired with wood from
beneAtll. In SIX hours time crude turpen-
tine and tar are distilled. from which gas,
evolved in the operation, separates itself.
TIE t1lrrentjne flows into a bath where it
is refined and the tar is discharged in AN
other direction.
If women are more easily frightened
than men, it is as easy to attribute it to q
more sensitive organization as TO any other
cause. Poets and rsicitus are not as
cool and collected in the presence OF dan
ger as firemen, nor white men as the Amer
Jean Indians Many people consider that
The deIicateiy balanced nervous organiza-
ton OF the horse indicates as high de-.
gree of development as is to be found in
more phlermatic and thick skinned varie.
Ties of animals.
AN Instance Of what NAV be accom-
s,lishcd by energy aud perseverance is
given in 81 Southern paper A man out CT
employment conceived the Idea OF making
habv~s wings He started in with a very
meager supply of imrlements and made
one and sold it. He kept on making and
selling them until people began to notice
them an / inquire for them. After o few
years OF close attention to business, he
came to be at the head ct an tablish~
lnent with elaborate machinery, and sup.
porting one hundred and fifty persons.
At a recent meeting of the School OF
Military Engineering, Chatham, Eng,
elaborate experiments with "roburitc,' the
new explosive, the invention of DR.. Carl
Roth, German chemist, Were made, de-
veloping the superiority Of the article for
blasting in mines. It is composed Of sub.
stances that are inexplosivc separately,
and that may be transported with perfect
safety in any manner. These may be
mixed and ground up in any kind Of mill,
ami neither friction. percussion nor heat
Will produce all explosion, to accomplish
which a decorator charged with illuminate
Of mercury i necess Try. In addition 10
it's harmless properties "roturite" IS nom
productive of noxious gases or h1me and
will uot ignite frts.dalnp while being more
powerful than g,ln-c0tton.
In regard to ;i,e cause Of consumption
Il writer in Science says: The expert
mental together with the clinical study Of
tuberculosis has established the view that
there are three factors in it's causation.
First, the presence Of the parasite, the
tubercle-h b cillus, as a pathogenic ele-
ment. This factor is necessary for the
productions of the disease. Second, her.
ruity figures as prominent element in
Il out thirty per cent. of the cases or
,.inarily met with Third, nlalhygienic
and debilitating agents. such as foul air,
sedentary occupations. violations Of the
laws of health, and diseases, have pow
trrul effect, by impairing the nutrit on, in
developing the disease. Hereditv and
lowered vitality can not Of themselves
produce tuberculosis, but clinicaily they
play an important role as factors, " rem
dering the individual more vulnerable to
bacillary influence.